Smaneg Guild (3)
Smaneg Guild (3)
In some of his previous experiences.
The boss monsters in the big three dungeons had no Ego. In the game, they didn't speak a single line of dialogue.
Or at least the Queen.
And the Raid Bosses.
Only beings that had overcome the demonic energy on their own and regained their sense of self would communicate their intentions through dialogue.
It was a strange one, to say the least.
The Fairy Knight in front of him exuded anger, not at the dungeon's intruders, but precisely at humans.
He wondered to himself just what could be causing this.
What had driven this Fairy Knight to such extreme anger and disgust for humans?
Redin thought he could have a conversation with him, given that he has an Ego.
However, at least in its current state, it would be difficult to have a conversation with it. First, though, he needs to subdue and calm the Fairy Knight.
But just in case.
"I suppose you're not interested in talking with me, are you?"
"I'll kill you."
Seething with rage, the Fairy Knight stomped on the ground.
Boom!
With a powerful sound.
The Fairy Knight shot forward.
Arriving right in front of him, it swept the sword in its hand. Seeing that, he quickly raised his sword.
Clang!
The attack was blocked, but the force of the blow pushed him back.
As the fairy knight shifted his feet, Redin was pushed further back.
But it didn't end there.
The Fairy Knight fluttered his wings, and pink dust rose up and flew at him. In the game, this would be a mesmerization.
A powder of mesmerizing charm that takes the mind from a person.
"Shit..."
Redin hurriedly raised his hand to cover his face.
His mind was slightly dazed by the powder that entered through his eyes, nose, and ears, and the power in his sword loosened.
Bam!
The Fairy Knight's sword sent him flying. As his back slammed against the floor, the purification power burned away the effects of the powder.
He stood up, stabbing his sword into the ground.
While he could purge the mesmerizing powder like he had against the man who used poison last time, there is a certain delay.
The longer it dragged on, the less good it did him.
With the intention of slicing off a limb, he channeled the purifying power into his sword.
Whirring!
A gust of wind from the Fairy Knight sent pink powder blowing toward him. As his vision was obscured, the Fairy Knight disappeared.
Redin utilized the Eye of Arrakis.
Hidden from view behind the pink dust was the Fairy Knight's form, and along with it came a glimpse of where he would attack.
Redin took a defensive stance and raised his sword.
Holding it in both hands, he infused it with mana and swung it as hard as he could.
Whoosh!
A gust of sword wind blew the powder away.
Seeing the Fairy Knight hiding behind it, he stomped on the ground and used a quick thrust that sent him soaring.
He aimed for the fairy knight's arm with his sword.
He quickly reached out and grabbed the sword. Deciding this was the time to strike, he unleashed a powerful blast of purifying power.
"Ugh!"
The sword was full of purification energy.
"Is this the end?"
The fairy knight calmly faced the purifying power.
'Wha?'
The dungeons of the Demon Cult were based on demonic energy. Although not as strong as divine power, the power of purification was strong against demonic energy.
Although Redin's skill is slightly lower than others.
The reason why he could get a gold rank and handle boss monsters more easily than others.
It was because of the power of purification.
But that power wasn't working against the Fairy Knight.
This never happened in the game.
He wondered.
Why wasn't the power of purification working?
Composing himself, he thought about the situation at hand. In the simplest terms, there was the Magnes.
What kind of trick did they pull?
Focusing on that, he turned to look at the Fairy Knight. Its appearance was identical to that of the game he was so familiar with.
Speaking of hidden spots.
The only place he could not see was inside the armor he wore.
"Die, human."
The words were cold, yet life poured out of him.
The Fairy Knight was about to swing his sword, but he used [Shadow Art] to subdue the creature's arm.
"Grrr!"
First, he collected the power of purification.
He checked the mana in his body, gathered it all, and funneled it into his sword.
First things first.
He slashed at the Fairy Knight's hand holding the sword. Withdrawing from him, he went behind him and made a big slash with his sword.
Crack!
It sliced through the armor.
The armor cracked open and fell to the ground, revealing the knight's back.
A back marred with black veins.
At its center was a white gem.
He must have touched the gem when he made the slash.
Information about the item popped into his head.
[Magic Purification Device (A)]
A special device created by -???
-Purifies the demonic energy of boss monsters and gives them a sense of self-awareness.
-In addition, it grants resistance to divine power.
His brow furrowed.
"What the...."
CRACK!
As the white gemstone cracked, it began to ooze with demonic energy that he had never felt before.
"Keeuuuu! Aaaaaaah!"
The Fairy Knight grabbed his head and shrieked in pain. Black demonic energy oozed out and engulfed the Fairy Knight.
Demonic energy radiated from his body.
Along with it, the Fairy Knight's eyes turned red.
Complete corruption.
"Krrrr."
The Fairy Knight flew over quickly with his blackened sword. Redin channeled the power of purification into his sword and blocked the attack.
Boom!
The Demonic energy disappeared from the sword.
The purifying power had begun to work.
Unfortunately, his stamina was depleted and he couldn't hold out any longer.
At that moment.
[Blazing Soul (EX) is activated].
A blue fire erupted from his heart, and the power of the phoenix spread out, filling him with stamina and mana.
Duration: 10 minutes.
Within that time, end him.
Kicking the ground, he pushed the creature forward with all his might. As the fallen knight's body was pushed back slightly, he swung his sword.
Slash!
Spreading his wings, the creature dodged Redin's attack. Seeing that it was about to fly off into the sky, he grabbed its wings with the Shadow Hands.
He didn't end there.
He slashed at the creature's chest with a flurry of slashes, then filled his sword with mana and swung it frantically through the slowing time.
A powerful strike.
Storm Slash.
A massive storm swept over the Fallen Fairy Knight.
"Kaaaaaaaah!"
With all of its demonic energy dissipated by the purifying power, and its limbs blown off, the Fairy Knight collapsed to the ground, wheezing in pain.
He stepped in front of him.
"Are you able to calm down now?"
"Huh.."
The fairy knight's eyes widened as if he saw something. He looked down to see what it was, and there it was the necklace sticking out.
The necklace he'd received from the Dreaming Boy.
Seeing it, the fairy smiled bittersweetly and whispered softly.
"Q... Queen.... Please"
With that.
[Killed target].
[Harvested a damned soul].
Memories of the dead Fairy Knight flowed into his head.
-Burn everything but the medicine.
-Move quickly!
At the sound of human voices, the fairy knight snapped his eyes open. Cuffs on his arms and legs and a mask over his mouth.
With each breath, bubbles of air escaped.
Inside a coffin of green liquid, the Fairy Knight stared at the humans.
-Sir! What should I do about the boss monster here?
His vision blurred.
With that, the memory ended.
"Whoa."
Shaking his head, he looked around.
The place that appeared in the memory was in the dungeon where he was now standing. The Smaneg guild had captured the Fairy Knight and was extracting the mesmerizing powder and using it to make drugs.
"What in the world are they up to?"
It was probably not just this dungeon.
If they were making drugs in other dungeons, they'd have a huge amount of money to lose when they shut everything down.
What are they going to do, put themselves out of business?
"Huh?"
Apparently the memory wasn't over.
The Fairy Knight's eyes flickered open to a man. The man's face grew clearer and clearer.
The memory ended as the man's grinning face was revealed.
"Barnes?"
The third in command of the Magnes.
Terry the Poison Toad's right-hand man.
Barnes, The Mad Dog
It was definitely him.
* * *
Crrrraaaassshhhh!
Watching the dungeon disappear before his eyes, Barnes took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Just then, the Black Hooded man approached and lit the cigarette.
Puff!
Barnes exhaled a puff of white smoke as his cigarette burned away. Barnes took out a cigarette and handed it to the hooded figure.
"Would you like one too?"
"Thanks."
A cigarette made from tobacco imbued with Divine Power.¹
Many enthusiasts used holy tobacco instead of holy water.
As Barnes and Black Hooded Man smoked the sacred cigarette, they traveled deeper into the Labyrinth.
The miasma of demonic energy becomes thicker and thicker.
There was a huge space where they arrived, cleansing the Demonic Energy with Sacred Cigarette. A place where the roots of the World Tree converge.
Looking at the empty space, Barnes blew out a puff of white smoke.
"Whew. Isn't it amazing?"
"What is?"
"According to the Holy Empire's scriptures, bastards like us deserve to die, yet we're able to use an object with such divine power."
Barnes ran his tongue over his lips.
"Maybe God is behind this?"
"I don't know."
"Funny bastard."
Time passed without much conversation.
Who knows at this point how much time has gone by.
A black vortex swirled in the empty space, revealing a dungeon that emitted a tremendous amount of energy.
"Huuu....! Queen... level dungeon."
An intense demonic energy.
Even though it felt like it was strangling his throat, Barnes enjoyed the sensation and brought out the sacred cigarette in his hand.
Puff!
He took a deep drag on the cigarette.
He inhaled deeply, letting the divine energy fill his lungs.
"Wooooo....."
From the subspace pouch on his waist, he took out something. A statue modeled after the Goddess of Creation, Veronica.
An intense holy power emanated from the statue, almost as strong as the demonic energy exuding from the dungeon.
He tossed it towards the dungeon.
The statue was sucked into the dungeon. A moment later, the dungeon changed. The black vortex turned gray.
At the same time, the concentration of demonic energy diminished.
"Call the kids."
At Barnes' command, the black hooded man moved.
He went upstairs and brought the waiting subordinates down to the Queen-level dungeon.
Barnes looked at the assembled members of the Magnes organization.
"Are you all ready?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Then let's start."
They entered the dungeon, and Barnes looked at Black Hooded Man, who was about to enter after them.
"You go upstairs, Huu..."
"I've instructed the Deputy Guildmaster on what to do."
"Asshole, the guild leader did that, how can you trust him to carry out the work, you go and see it through. You either do what you're told or you don't."
"I understand."
"If there's the slightest bit of disobedience, you'll do what I did to the guild leader, and he'll listen to you."
"Yes."
"Then kill him cleanly. He might run his mouth to save his ass."
Black Cloak bowed his head.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And contact the mages on standby at Burning Hell. I'll need a week to do the preliminary work and two days to do the post-work, so time it accordingly."
"And then kill him cleanly. He might run his mouth to save his ass."
The Black Hooded Figure bowed his head.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"And contact the mages on standby at Burning Hell. A week to do the prep work, maybe two days to do the rest, so arrange things accordingly."
"Yes, sir."
Barnes tossed his finished cigarette on the ground and reached for the black hood man. The black hooded figure pulled out a black box and handed it over.
Click!
The black box was opened.
Inside was a white jewel.
"They said all you need to do is stick it in the Spirit King's forehead."
Sigh.
"Okay, see you later."
** ** **
TL/N:
1. Yep, It's a Sacred and Holy Cigarette, Available at any Church near you.